


My Star Wars: Episode IX Rewrite Part 1

by danyalbajwa



Series: My Star Wars: Episode IX Rewrite [1]
Category: Star Wars, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:34:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26761459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/danyalbajwa/pseuds/danyalbajwa
Summary: The Rise of Skywalker broke my heart. So naturally I spent the better part of a year writing a better conclusion to both the Sequel Trilogy, and the Skywalker Saga.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Finn, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: My Star Wars: Episode IX Rewrite [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1950022
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	My Star Wars: Episode IX Rewrite Part 1

So Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker was one of the more disappointing moviegoing experiences I’ve had. It was the first movie since the first Percy Jackson movie came out to create an immediate sense of dread as the film went on, knowing that no amount of creativity in the third act could save what I was watching.  
I distinctly remember walking out of the theater and telling my friend, “That movie broke my heart in a way I never thought Star Wars could.” For a Star Wars fan, disliking a new Star Wars movie is maybe the worst feeling on earth, especially one that you had been genuinely excited for.   
And to be fair, I don’t love a lot of the Prequel Trilogy. I have big problems with the execution of the story that George wanted to tell, but I’ve grown to love them more as time passes. And thanks in part to The Clone Wars, I generally agree with the story decisions made for the movies, however sloppy and wooden they may be, and how they lead into the original trilogy.  
But with The Rise of Skywalker, so much was fundamentally ruined for me, that to paraphrase Patrick Willems: For the first time, I don’t accept what happened in a Star Wars movie.  
Look, I’m not going to spend a lot of time bashing The Rise of Skywalker. Pretty much everything that I could say about the movie has already been said.   
But in all honesty, and I’m not trying to be too hyperbolic, I can only think of one or two scenes in the entire film that I genuinely enjoyed. At the time of me writing this video, it is my least favorite Star Wars film of all time. Even the worst one until Episode IX in my opinion, which is Attack of the Clones, I still find certain things enjoyable. So needless to say I had a very different vision of what I wanted in the final chapter of the Skywalker Saga.  
A few days after seeing the film, I was sitting on the Tube in London, and had a few ideas about how I would improve the movie. I started taking notes in my phone, and before long I had written it down onto a Google Doc. I quickly realized that I was just rewriting the entire movie from the top down, part screenplay and part novelization. Within a week I had written dozens of pages, all outlining my ideal story.  
Over the next few months I wrote out an entire film, and even performed a table read with a group of friends.  
What you’re going to hear is a revised version of that same story.  
A couple of disclaimers before I jump into Part One of my rewrite:  
Disclaimer Number 1: I really love The Last Jedi. It’s one of my favorite Star Wars movies. This rewrite is going to build really heavily on the previous film. So if that’s the kind of thing that’s going to make you so uncontrollably angry that you need to jump down to the comment section and berate me, I’d recommend checking out hundreds of other Star Wars videos right here on YouTube that’ll make you feel a whole lot better.  
Disclaimer Number 2: I began my rewrite of Episode IX on December 24, 2019. In January of 2020, details, and later an entire rough draft of Colin Trevorrow’s original plans for Episode IX were released onto the internet. And believe it or not, a lot of aspects of the two stories are incredibly similar. Even though I just showed you the date I started working on it, that’s a pretty big coincidence.   
I think what this means is that the trilogy seemed to be going in a very particular direction, only to be yanked in a totally new one for a concluding chapter that left us really unsatisfied, so it isn’t a huge surprise that a lot of people had similar thoughts about where the story would go after The Last Jedi.  
Disclaimer Number 3: There are some characters and locations that I’m going to reuse for my story, since I think the basic concepts behind the new characters introduced intoThe Rise of Skywalker story are actually really solid.  
And with that, we’re gonna jump right into my version of what Episode IX would look like.  
First things first. I really dislike the title of JJ’s Episode IX. “The Rise of Skywalker” has made me cringe since the first trailer was released in April of 2019, and I still can’t stand saying it. So because my rewrite is fundamentally different from the original film, the title is going to be too...  
I knew what I wanted the title to be as soon as The Last Jedi was released. In all my vanity, I didn’t think there was a better title that we could have, and fully expected the real Episode IX to be what I had wanted.   
And that title is Star Wars: A New Order  
I chose this for a couple of different reasons.  
It fits with the 3-word titles that have been running through the Sequel Trilogy.  
It’s a throwback to A New Hope! Those are always fun.  
Plus, it’s part of a line delivered by Ben Solo to Rey in the throne room scene. The title of Episode 8 is included in the crawl of The Force Awakens, so it made sense in my head for this title to come from its predecessor in some way.  
It ties in with one of my favorite themes in The Last Jedi of breaking cycles, and starting anew.  
I feel like the title of the last film of a long-running saga like Star Wars should have some finality to it. A New Order, in my opinion of course, leaves the audience with a sense of hope for the future, that our heroes can finally rest.  
Okay, that’s all the introduction I can give, the rest we’ll talk about as we go. Let’s get to the crawl… 

These are dark times. As the grip of the diabolical FIRST ORDER has tightened, countless systems now live under a brutal regime. Stormtroopers around the galaxy have begun to defect, questioning their beliefs and joining the folds of the RESISTANCE.  
Led by GENERAL ORGANA, their forces grow in strength and strike out against the enemy in secret. REY, the last of the Jedi, trains for her battle against the dark side of the Force.  
Supreme Leader KYLO REN, more powerful than ever, has heard a mysterious calling. He has sensed a disturbance in the Force and sets out to find the source of this enigmatic voice, one he has not heard before…

We open as the camera pans downward through the stars, as we see the very top of a planet peeking into our view. Suddenly, a massive Star Destroyer slams out of hyperspace above us with a thunderous roar.  
Cut to Kylo Ren leaving the Star Destroyer while Hux speaks to another general over the hologram. A First Order commander who is stationed on the ship asks Hux where Ren is going and why he left. Hux explains that Kylo Ren only told him that he had to leave because of a mysterious calling from a planet in the outer rim. Kylo Ren had been hearing voices again and was seeking for answers in the Imperial archives. He left suddenly after finding something of interest, leaving Hux in charge. He’s cautious of Kylo Ren’s sudden obsession with the voices, believing that the power has caused him to slip into madness. He orders the commander to prepare to leave in a hurry, and to be prepared that the Supreme Leader may not return, in which case Hux will presume interim control.   
Kylo Ren flies to the elusive planet and we see a large and ominous temple. The planet is scorched red, and no signs of life are seen. Ren steps out of his TIE fighter and we can see his new look as the Supreme Leader. We can clearly see his lightsaber swinging on his hip as he walks toward the temple. He walks briskly and determined into the looming temple.   
He enters the temple as an eerie tone settles in the room. All around him we see giant statues of former Sith lords in a perverse reflection of the Jedi Temple. Tombs of ancient rulers of the Sith Empire surround the massive walkway into the center of the room, where a broken and cobbled shrine lies within the floor. Kylo Ren stands amongst the ruins of the Grand Temple, on the ancient Sith homeworld of Moraband. As he cautiously approaches the center of the room, a booming voice begins to resonate, the voice of Darth Sidious!  
I know what I said! JJ’s version was deeply unsatisfying to me and threw out a lot of what I love. But of the few things I didn’t hate, it was the very basic idea of Palpatine being behind a lot of the chaos in the galaxy. Let’s think about this for a moment. It’s established in Canon that the Emperor had a contingency plan if he were to ever be killed, called Operation Cinder, in which the most loyal remnants of the Empire were to regroup in the unknown regions of space. This is where the First Order grew its military and prepared to retake the galaxy. It’s conceivable that he would include some sort of backup plan for himself as well. So that’s how we’re going to work him into the story, only, there’s going to be one big change:  
Emperor Palpatine….isn’t going to be in the movie. I mean he is, but we’re never going to see him. If you don’t get it now, I’ll explain in just a little bit.

PALPATINE  
Long have I waited for your arrival, young Solo. I have sensed your vast power from beyond the grave. I have watched you since you were a boy. You have so much potential, and so much more to learn. I can show you a path, a path to something.... greater.

KYLO REN  
I don't need the guidance of a failed old wizard bested by his own dying apprentice. I came here for answers, and to end this.  
PALPATINE  
I know boy, I know. I can feel the conflict, the turmoil flowing through you. It gives you focus. I have taught you as well as I could from beyond the physical realm.  
KYLO REN  
You've taught me nothing. I owe my strength and knowledge to Snoke, who I've killed. I have only to find the girl, and I will have erased any living remnant of the Jedi and the Sith.  
PALPATINE  
I AM SNOKE! Yes.... search your feelings you know it to be true. I have been every voice you have ever heard inside your head. Snoke was just my conduit. I controlled him just like I controlled your grandfather, weak as he may have been. Snoke's task was simple, deliver the mighty Ben Solo to me. But now, your refined power is something I could only have dreamed of knowing. He trained you well, he balanced your untamed rage with the skills of a true Sith Lord.

KYLO REN  
I swore to burn the old ways to the ground. The Jedi, The Sith, Skywalker, Snoke, and now you. My fleet is the ultimate power in the galaxy, and nothing; not even you could stand in my way.  
-Kylo Ren suddenly lurches forward and is launched into the air, arms stretched outward. He is frozen, and we see a struggle on his face as he tries to resist the unnatural seizure of his body.

PALPATINE  
Do not test me boy. I can give you everything you have ever desired. I brought you here to grant you unlimited power. But I can take everything from you should you defy me.  
KYLO REN  
(struggling)  
I want nothing from you. The ghost of a failure has nothing to offer me. Whatever you have, I don't want it.

PALPATINE  
It is by my design that you now sit upon the throne my boy. It is my creation you now rule over, and it is my power through which you channel your strength and conviction. Without me, you are nothing.  
KYLO REN  
My connection to the Dark Side is unmatched. Every day I grow more wise and more powerful. I have conquered entire star systems with my powers, you're nothing but a whisper. So explain to me why I should join you.

PALPATINE  
I didn't bring you here to join me, I brought you here for me. I have waited in the shadows for an entire generation, pulling you closer and closer toward me. I have everything I need to exact my vision. Your embrace of your emotions and hatred, your devotion to the Dark Side, and the completion of your training have brought you back to me. Only with such a student could I achieve my long awaited return.  
-A look of intimidation washes over Ren's face as he realizes what he was brought here for.  
PALPATINE  
With your potential and my knowledge of the Dark Side, we will form a new Empire, stronger and more powerful than any before! Once more, the Sith will rule the galaxy, and at last..... I shall have my revenge.  
-With the last word, Kylo Ren flies forward involuntarily toward the shrine as a dark red mist menacingly rises out of its sides, pulling him even faster. The mist surrounds him, penetrates him, and binds itself within him. Our view is obscured for a pause, as the red mist flies in front of Ren's face. As it whips away and seeps beneath his skin his face is revealed. Suddenly he lurches forward into a close-up, gasping for air, where we see his eyes glowing yellow- the eyes of a Sith.

Okay, let’s get a few things straight. Palpatine’s body being a dilapidated clone really did not work for me. Instead, I wanted his presence to be more… ethereal. Essentially, Darth Sidious is going to play the literal role of the voice in Kylo Ren’s head. I wanted to expand on the lore a bit, and so taking precedent from Yoda’s arc in the sixth season of The Clone Wars, I thought it would make sense for Palpatine’s spirit to be trapped on Moraband.   
Now I know the idea of the Sith achieving some sort of afterlife is a bit controversial, since George (Our lord and savior, praise be unto him) has said life beyond death is one of the things that the Sith can’t do. And I get that, but the way I see it, spending an eternity stuck on Moraband kinda sounds worse than death. So for this story’s sake, Sidious’ time on Moraband is essentially going to be like an eternal damnation. The Satan metaphor is not subtle, but it is damn effective.  
He was in a place between life and death, where he could manipulate the Force and speak to Snoke and Ben, but couldn’t actually influence anything physically. Because after all, if there’s one thing Sheev Palpatine is good at: it’s pulling motherfucking strings. So now that Kylo Ren is in a place that’s strong in the Force which is also known as a Force nexus, and Moraband is a dark-side nexus, Darth Sidious is able to reach out physically and take control.  
And one last thing! Instead of calling Darth Sidious a “Sith ghost” or something like that, I’d call it a “Sith Revenant”. This isn’t going to be said in the movie at all, but it could be a fun addition to the mythos.  
Okay back to the story:

We cut to Kylo and the Knights of Ren watching as his helmet is reforged, similar to in the original Episode IX. We pan up from his feet as he enters the command bridge, meeting General Hux on the hologram. He asks about a status report on the planet below Hux’s command ship, Kijimi. Hux tells him that though the government was willing to cooperate with the First Order, the general population began to riot and rise up, attacking supply and reinforcement hubs. Kylo Ren asks if they began a sweep of the planet, Hux affirms that they have. Ren looms over him, stating that he wants any act of rebellion quelled. Anyone who resists will be killed with no hesitation. He wants to double the troops, specifically the new troops from the recent enlistments, to land on the planet and wipe out any act of rebellion. The Supreme Leader also orders that Hux relay these messages to fleets across the galaxy, as a new imperative for the First Order. Should a planet’s government choose to resist, the First Order will take it as a representation of the system’s population, and occupy the planet. Hux says he will see it through personally.  
As Hux walks away, an admiral walks up beside him as we follow them out of the bridge.   
ADMIRAL THALCORR  
General, is there something different about the Supreme Leader?  
Hux turns to her.  
GENERAL HUX  
I believe he found what he was looking for on Moraband. The flames of rebellion burn across the galaxy, and our Supreme Leader hunts for the artifacts of a dead religion. Whatever he found, his fanaticism is getting the best of him.  
ADMIRAL THALCORR  
Should we be concerned? What are the protocols for this?  
GENERAL HUX  
The protocol is as follows: if the Supreme Leader is unable to perform his duties, the highest ranking officer shall assume the role of leadership.  
ADMIRAL THALCORR  
And that would be you, sir?  
GENERAL HUX  
(feigning worry)  
It is with a heavy heart that I would accept this responsibility.  
ADMIRAL THALCORR  
Forgive me General, but this sounds like treason. As long as the Supreme Leader lives, our loyalty is to him.  
As they are walking Hux motions to two stormtroopers standing by a door, they follow behind him.  
GENERAL HUX  
Admiral, I take my orders from the Supreme Leader. And you take your orders from me... or at least you used to.  
ADMIRAL THALCORR  
Sir?  
He stops and turns to the two stormtrooper  
GENERAL HUX  
Troopers: escort Admiral Thalcorr to the nearest airlock. We need to relieve the ship of dead weight...

ADMIRAL THALCORR  
You can't do this! The Supreme Leader won't allow it!  
He gets menacingly close to her face.  
GENERAL HUX  
(menacingly)  
I am the Supreme Leader...  
The troopers carry the admiral away as she screams at Hux. He proceeds to walk down the hall and passes another officer.  
GENERAL HUX  
Send Vice Admiral Cyonne to my chambers at once and begin deployment of the new divisions to the surface of Kijimi.  
OFFICER #1  
Right away General.  
We cut down to Kijimi where we see First Order troops and TIE fighters bombing the city, stormtroopers marching the streets. They are occupying and dominating the capital, stamping out any trace of resistance on the planet. More troops land, painting the streets black and white with their armor. The scene is brutal, showing just how merciless the First Order has become. They are no longer the petulant and screaming fanatics, but a tyrannical and murderous regime.  
Suddenly, in the center of the city, shots begin to be fired back at the stormtroopers. Resistance fighters charge forward, only a few but heavily armored and clearly battle-hardened. We cut to Finn talking over a radio as he sneaks around the ruins of a building, trying to get a view of something. He is talking to Poe, filling him in on the situation. Poe is devastated by the loss of life, and gives Finn the order to do what he can. We finally catch a glimpse of what Finn has been trying to see. A large battering ram- the same one from the Battle of Crait, ready to break down the doors that we see are protecting a makeshift hospital being guarded by Kijimi guerrillas.   
The First Order commanding officers give the order to charge up the weapon, and Finn talks over the comms to another Resistance fighter, Jannah. She confirms that her group is ready to attack. Finn motions to the group of soldiers following him to attack, and they jump over the debris and begin to attack the First Order caravan from behind. Catching them by surprise, many of the exposed troops are taken out, but we can see more on the way. The Resistance fighters pull out explosives from their packs and attach them to the back of the battering ram. They run for cover as Finn activates the detonator, blowing the cannon apart in a forceful explosion that causes the soldiers’ ears to ring, deafening the sounds of battle and slaughter as our heroes reveal themselves from cover, slightly dazed and traumatized.   
Ash covers everything and fire rages around them. Bodies of stormtroopers, Resistance fighters, and civilians alike are scattered around them. The tolls of war. However, they have no time to move. They receive word that an entire legion of stormtroopers are making their way to the Resistance position, and need to leave. Jannah asks Finn if they’re just going to leave the civilians of Kijimi there to die. Finn assures her that Onyx company fighters led them to safety, but they can’t save everyone and need to leave, otherwise the First Order will capture, torture, and extract information from them.   
After the attack, Finn and the rest of his Onyx company are moving quickly to gather what equipment they can salvage and board the newly refurbished U-Wings but he demands to see the defecting stormtroopers. They explain after he asks them for information that since the major occupations, the pre-programmed stormtroopers from the First Order’s initial army have been beginning to question their motives, as their indoctrination didn’t account for defection and new recruits. Some not only want to lay down their weapons, but they want to destroy the regime that kidnapped them and indoctrinated them to revere Snoke.  
Finn is hesitant, and grows tired of their explanation. Jannah explains that they should be taking more defectors, as they’re willing and able to fight for the Resistance, but Finn is weary. He doesn’t trust them. He asks her how they can justify fighting for them at all. Finn asks them why he should trust them, and why they would defect now as not opposed to earlier like him. They explain that the massacres on planets have been triggering something in a lot of stormtroopers. All across the galaxy, the original First Order stormtroopers who were kidnapped as children and indoctrinated have begun to defect, either to the Resistance factions in those areas, or simply fleeing to other systems. He agrees to take them to the base, but orders them to remove their armor and tells his troops to cuff them and cover their faces. His troops, especially Jannah resist, but nonetheless follow orders.   
As the last of the ships are being boarded, a dying First Order officer throws a tracker onto the back of a U-Wing. None of the Resistance fighters notice and the ships take off and jump to lightspeed quickly.  
On board the ship, Finn finishes talking to the pilots as they enter light speed, when Jannah comes to speak with him. She appeals to him about treating the other ex-stormtroopers poorly, and he gives his motives for doing so. They are slaughtering innocents, occupying entire star systems. They killed people he loved, destroyed entire populations, and have hunted him and his friends across the galaxy. Even if they’re defectors, he doesn’t trust them. Jannah challenges him, saying that Poe had no reason to trust him but he did. Jannah herself is an ex-stormtrooper, and asks Finn why she and a few others who defected with her are exceptions to his hatred. He can’t give an answer but doubles down and tells her to help the other Onyx company troops process the defectors when they get to base and to search them for any weapons or trackers.  
We transition to a giant floating ice structure, the same one from Episode IX: Sinta Glacier Outpost. The Millennium Falcon zooms past us as we follow it through a tunnel cut out of the ice. The ship comes to a stop and the hatch on top opens up. We see from a shot below that Poe is waiting for a hatch on the other side to open up. When it does, Boolio, an Ovissian smuggler who smiles when he sees Poe: “Commander Dameron! Boy does it feel weird to say that! Come on, I've got some serious intel for you guys.” Poe tells Boolio that he doesn’t have a lot of time, that Sinta Glacier isn’t exactly hidden from the eyes of the First Order. He follows Boolio through a hallway and asks where exactly they’re going. Boolio responds that they’re going to grab the data pack he’s sending with them. It has more information but he’ll give Poe the jist in the meantime. “The First Order isn’t exactly pleased with their new defection problem. Your guys’ propaganda campaign has really been throwing a wrench into their gears. Only problem is, they’ve got recruits flooding in from the planets that were Imperial sympathizers. Whatever numbers they’re losing to you guys, they’re replacing just as quickly with fanatics. There’s a lot more in this data pack. Their numbers are surging, but if you can target the right divisions on the right planets, there’s a chance to topple the First Order’s military from within.” He hands it to Poe.   
“What’s the name of the soldier who started that thing again? Brilliant idea honestly, I’ve even got a few of those defectors working full-time here! Good kids, really hard working.” Boolio talks too much for Poe’s taste. Poe tells him, “Finn. He’s a very good friend of mine. Although these days he’s not exactly thrilled with the results.” Boolio looks puzzled. “We had some infiltrators, some people who tried to steal intel by masking as defectors trying to join the Resistance. We stopped them before anything could happen, but I think it really got Finn on edge. He’s paranoid, suspicious of the new fighters who come from the First Order. I understand where he’s coming from but a few close calls doesn’t mean we don’t need the help, that they don’t want to fight for something worth fighting for.”   
Boolio and Poe start walking back to the Falcon when Boolio tells him, “When you see your friend Finn, tell him that nothing worth doing is without risk. A resistance starts with a leap of faith... trust me, I’d know.” Poe jumps down through the hatch of the Falcon and hands the data pack to R2, who rolls back toward the holotable where C-3PO is sitting. Poe looks up and thanks Boolio, telling him that he doesn’t know how the Resistance can ever repay him for all of the help. Boolio laughs and tells him he knows just how they can “Win the war!”   
As Poe smiles we hear Chewie roar from the cockpit, and Poe yells back “Incoming, what do you mean incoming?!?!” Before Chewie can respond huge blaster bolts hit right above the hatch, sending sparks and debris through both ends. Boolio yells and closes his side, wishing them good luck. Poe closes their end and races to the cockpit. We follow him through the halls and stop as he looks out the windshield to see a squadron of TIE Silencers round a corner and begin racing toward them while opening fire. Our protagonists scramble to get the Falcon out of the chasm, and fly straight into the oncoming fire. They pull some maneuvers to dodge the TIE fighters as the First Order pilots scream past them and turn around in a frenzy, firing on them immediately. The ship gets way too close to the bottom of the ice tunnel and the gunner seat on the bottom slams into the ground, flying off behind the ship as it races away. Poe and Chewie both realize quickly and collectively shit their pants.   
We follow the Millennium Falcon as it twists and turns through the ice cavern, barely dodging the blaster fire. Poe looks at Chewie and asks how exactly they’re going to get out of here. Chewie roars in confusion as they whip around a corner and collide with a wall of ice. A TIE fighter makes a bad bank and crashes into the wall, exploding and sending debris into the air. Poe tells Chewie he has an idea, and that Chewie isn’t going to like it at all. He flips a few switches and punches the ship into hyperspace. They narrowly avoid a large cargo ship as it flies in front of the exit perpendicular to them. The TIE Silencers follow surprisingly. The Falcon jumps out of hyperspace on a gaseous planet. The visibility is low. The First Order pilots are right behind them. They pull more maneuvers and massive rock formations make themselves visible right in front of our heroes. They are able to dodge them with minimal damage, but some of the TIE fighters are destroyed. Chewie hits the throttle and Poe tells him to get ready for another jump. Chewie yells in confusion, Poe responds “Lightspeed skipping! My mom taught it to me when I was a kid!” They jump into hyperspace again and end up flying over a field of lava, spewing flames and ash into the air. “Pull up, pull up!!!”, Poe yells as the flames spread across the glass. We see the TIE Silencers dodge the geysers of lava, one or two of them crashing into the spontaneous eruptions.  
The Falcon skips one more time and comes out mere inches over a vast ocean. In the distance we see the wreckage of what appear to be buildings. They are the remains of the Kaminoan cloning facility. Chewie senses an opportunity for cover. He speeds the ship toward them, dodging the oncoming fire from the remaining two fighters. The Falcon zooms in and out of the jagged wreckage, narrowly escaping the water below and the ever decaying metal structures above. Two more TIE Silencers remain, screaming toward Poe and Chewie.   
They begin to catch up and fire, causing some damage on the back of the Falcon. Poe exclaims, “We’re already putting too much strain on her from the lightspeed skipping, we can’t take much more of that!” Chewie roars and we see the Falcon veer into even tighter spaces. It takes a barrel roll and one of the fighters collides with a pillar, lighting up the dark and rainy atmosphere. One left. Poe takes control and climbs the ship into the air, going higher and higher. The TIE closes in, and we cut to a shot of its scope locking on. But just as the pilot is about to fire, Poe drops the ship out of the air as the Silencer flies past, unable to turn around. As the Falcon falls backward, the TIE fighter comes into range and Chewie roars as he blasts the small ship to smithereens with the front-facing cannons. He and Poe yell with joy and punch into lightspeed and back to base.

We cut back to Ajan Kloss as the Millennium Falcon, smoking but still intact, lands on the runway. A group of engineers run up to the ship and start to hose it down. Chewie gets out to help, and Poe asks R2-D2 to deliver the data pack to Connix. A soldier runs up to Poe and tells him he has someone he needs to meet immediately. C-3PO follows closely behind.  
We introduce Rose right as Finn is getting off of the ship, unloading equipment, helping with the wounded and giving orders. He’s a good leader, despite the whole defection thing. Rose calls over to him after giving instructions to one of the other engineers about the X-Wing they’re working on. They meet in the middle and embrace in a big hug and she asks how he is. He tells her about the mission, minor cuts and bruises. We cut to the defecting stormtroopers. They’re escorted out of the ship in handcuffs and hoods covering their heads. Rose questions Finn whether they’re recruits or conscripts. He looks down, clearly a little shameful that Rose is chastising him as well, but avoids the confrontation by letting her know that they scored some solid First Order tech that she might be able to use. She reminds him “You’re the one who decided to recruit them in the first place, you can’t turn your back on them now. They need you.” Just then, Poe comes over with someone we haven’t seen before.  
He introduces Ares as a new potential for the Onyx Company. Rose reaches out, happy to meet him, asking how long he’s been with the Resistance. Ares explains that he’d been working off-world for a while, but recently was picked up by a Resistance transport on its way to Ajan Kloss. Ares requested as soon as he reached the home base to be put into Onyx Company. Finn asks why, and it’s revealed that Ares is a First Order defector who left only a few months ago. He was stationed on Dantooine and went into hiding after being ordered to massacre an entire village. Finn immediately is taken aback. He tells Poe and Ares that they have more than enough fighters, and more former stormtroopers are only a liability at this point. Poe contests this, saying that Ares works in communications and has been helping Rose to modify the Resistance’s tech and crack First Order comms/encryptions. He could be of great use to Onyx company on their next mission to Mandalore. Finn blows Poe off, reassuring that Onyx doesn’t need any more soldiers. Jannah goes up to Ares, talks to him, and assures him that he’ll have a seat on the next mission and that she’ll talk to Finn. Rose asks Ares to take her place helping the engineers as she talks to Poe.  
Poe asks her about updates, and she exposites to him about the shields, increased communications range, and of course the cloaking. Poe is ecstatic. He gives Rose a bear hug as they walk past all of the engineers working on the ships and the large communications towers they have clustered around the base. He exclaims that this is going to seriously help both Onyx Company and the Resistance at large. Poe asks her to come to the Resistance High Council meeting to consult on new plans and to give the updates. She immediately rejects the offer, telling him that she’s not High Council material, and she’d much rather stay down here with the gearheads. She tells him to give the Council the updates himself. He realizes how late he is for the meeting, but first asks where Rey is. Rose tells him that she’s off in the jungle for training, that she got up early this morning to get a few more hours in.  
Rey is meditating, floating in the air surrounded by rocks that also rotate around her, acting as a sort of barrier. She is saying under her breath, “Be with me. Be with me.” She calls out to Leia, and we see the leader of the Resistance answer from her quarters in the base. “Leia, I can’t feel them. I know I’m supposed to, but they’re so distant.” Leia tells her it takes time, that being a self-taught Jedi is no easy task. It will come. Rey grows frustrated and comes back down, falling to the jungle floor. Suddenly, BB-8 rolls into frame and beeps at her, startling her. She answers BB-8, “Really, already?” The droid confirms her frustration, and she stands up, dusts herself off, and grabs her lightsaber. She sprints out of frame leaving BB-8 in a trail of her dust, followed by a training droid firing shots at her. She turns and blocks them with the ignited and reforged lightsaber: We can see clearly from an establishing shot that the lightsaber keeps elements of the original Skywalker saber, but has been modified using pieces from Rey’s staff. Her own lightsaber, finally. The hilt is twice as long, hinting to the audience that it is a saber staff.

I find it really strange that we see Rey on multiple occasions being extremely proficient with her staff from Jakku, but for some reason the real Episode IX decides that she’ll just have a single-bladed one made from the pieces of her staff instead. And the entire idea of Rey having a yellow lightsaber just comes out of nowhere, it’s not set up during the film, and it just serves to appease people who have wanted to know what color lightsaber she’ll have at the end of the story. When to be honest, that’s not what really matters! And besides, the yellow lightsabers were wielded by the emotionally distant Jedi Temple Guards! Unless I’m mistaken, the last shot of Rey on Ajan Kloss is of her crying and embracing her friends… Hardly emotionally distant.  
I’m not opposed to new colors entering the film canon at all, but if we were going to give her another crystal, we should set it up along the way. I don’t find it necessary to do so, and so I left it on the cutting room floor. The Last Jedi perfectly set Rey up to build her own saber from the pieces of the Skywalkers’, so that’s what I wanted her to do here.   
It’s been a whole two years since the events of the last film, and so this sequence is designed to show us just how far Rey has come in her training, to catch us up on what’s happened. It’s the equivalent of Luke showing up at Jabba's palace in Return of the Jedi. 

She breezes through the obstacle course, showing us how acrobatic and fast she’s become since we last saw her. We see her run deeper into the jungle followed by BB-8 rolling furiously behind her. Rey begins to stray from the path, leaving the clearly marked obstacle course behind. She swings across a ravine, landing strangely and needing to take a break. As she bends down to rub her ankle, she looks to her right and sees a dark, shadowy grove, beckoning to her. Rey shrugs it off at first, but the voice coming from the grove sounds familiar.   
She cautiously walks over to it, telling a curious BB-8 to stay put. The voice is whispering, but the volume grows louder as Rey moves farther away from the daylight. This mirrors the cave in Empire, but less dream-like. We hear voices from the past two films; Maz, Luke, Snoke, and finally Ben. Only, his voice is louder, stronger than the others. It fades in and out for a little, before we are startled to see Kylo Ren sitting in front of her, on a throne. Rey is taken aback, stumbling and nearly falling and about to reach for her lightsaber before he speaks her name. “It’s been a while... I sense you’re finishing your training. Did the books Skywalker gave you do the work?” She responds by telling him it’s just a vision, that none of this is real. “You’re right, for all of your training these past two years, you still wouldn’t be able to do this by yourself, you must be somewhere strong with the Force.” He rises from his throne, looming over her. He says, “So disappointing… I offered you a chance once. To start something new. To let all of this, the war, the Jedi, die with Skywalker. You could’ve finally been someone. A leader, an empress. But you threw it all away.” Rey looks down in disappointment, clearly hurt by his taunting. She tells him that something’s different, she can feel it in the Force, Rey can sense a new presence in the room that she didn’t the last time they spoke. “Everything has changed. But you’ll find that out soon enough. You can’t run from us forever.” he tells her as a sinister tone enters the room.  
With that we hear beeping from outside, BB-8 has something urgent for her. Rey walks back out, clearly distraught but ready to listen. BB-8 tells her that Onyx Company is back and that Leia and Poe are asking for her to stop by base.  
She runs back to see Finn and Jannah talking about something important. That being said, as soon as Finn sees her he stops Jannah and waits for Rey to run up to him and hug him. We can tell that they care for each other, but that Finn is preoccupied. She asks about the mission, he tells her that the First Order is getting more aggressive and reckless, not caring about collateral damage or civilian casualties. He adds that they could always use a fighter like her. She tells him that he knows why she can’t come with them, no matter how much she wants to. They walk over together, leaving Jannah behind to coordinate the rest of Onyx Company’s arrival and talk more about the state of things, about Leia and Poe. He asks how the training is going, she tells him that she feels ready but now thinks something new is on the horizon, something she hasn’t encountered before. Between the Jedi texts and advice from Leia, she has been improving her skills and preparing for something big, but it now all suddenly feels insignificant. Like everything she’s learned won’t be able to stand up to what is coming.

Let’s address the elephant in the room. Leia’s presence in the film has to be very brief, just like it was in The Rise of Skywalker. Carrie Fisher played her with such love and passion that she deserves to be in this movie, it would be unfair to her legacy for Leia to die off-screen between movies. While she won’t be delivering a lot of lines in the movie, her presence is still going to be felt. There’s a reason behind everything she does, even if it isn’t made clear at the moment.

Once they arrive at the meeting Leia briefs the council on the state of the Resistance in the galaxy. She tells them that thanks to Finn and Jannah’s work with Onyx Company, the information and technology stolen from the encounters with the First Order have helped to lend the Resistance a huge boost in their combat abilities. With Poe commanding the entire fleet, more and more systems are sending fighters and ships to Ajan Kloss to aid the Resistance. While they’re still outnumbered, they can strike out using guerilla tactics, rather than provoking the First Order into open combat.  
She defers the floor to Poe. He mentions the huge numbers of defecting stormtroopers that Onyx Company and other sections of the Resistance have been bringing. Finn looks uncomfortable. Onyx Company is headed to Mandalore in just a few days, and they’re expecting the fighting to be intense, so they’re going to need backup since supplies are limited: he asks for volunteers from the other corps of the Resistance, and a few promise fighters. Rey walks away from the meeting, sensing something wrong in the Force. She runs into Rose, who’s working with some of the engineers modifying a Y-wing bomber talking about the new cloaking technology. Rose asks Rey why she looks so shaken. Rey responds by telling her there’s something wrong, she can feel a dark presence that she hasn’t felt on Ajan Kloss in a long time. Rose asks if she thinks something dangerous is happening, if it is going to hurt the Resistance. Rey tells her that she’s not entirely sure, but the dark presence is stronger than she’s ever felt, even when she was in Snoke’s throne room. She’s worried that the stronger presence is something she hasn’t prepared for. Rose responds by saying that she should try to meditate on it. Clear her thoughts, reach out into the Force. Rey tells her that she’s been reaching out into the Force, to call on people who may be able to help, but she hasn’t heard anyone. She feels lost without any guidance, she’s too weak by herself.  
Rose understands, but disagrees. She knows what it’s like to feel alone, like half of a person. But she tells Rey that sometimes when she’s overwhelmed or can’t sleep, she reminds herself of her sister Paige and what she did for other people. Against the odds, she fought for the cause and that Rose owes that much to her. Paige’s memory is what pushes her to keep fighting, it’s what renews her passion for the cause. Rose tells her that Luke sacrificed himself so the Resistance could live on, so that they would have a chance to fight back and restore freedom to the galaxy. Luke had enough faith in her, enough faith in the Jedi that he knew Rey would be able to take on Kylo Ren. She thanks Rose, and gives her a hug. Just as she’s about to say something else, a huge explosion is heard from down the runway.  
All of a sudden, we see a Star Destroyer exit lightspeed above the planet, its shape appearing in the sky like the moon in daylight. We see in the distance a horde of TIE fighters and bombing vessels disembark and head toward the base. We see Leia get up and walk quickly toward the runway, asking Connix how they were able to find them. Connix replies exasperated and panicking. Poe calls over the PA system to get fighters into the air immediately. He rushes to his X-Wing, as the runway is being bombarded. In his ship, Poe tells Finn and the other council members to begin evacuation procedures. They need to leave the planet as soon as possible. We see Rey and Finn start to lead the evacuation as the fighters take off, getting into dogfights immediately. She manages to grab the Jedi texts which she took from Ach To, giving them to Connix to take aboard one of the evacuation craft.  
Rey rushes to Leia to get her aboard the Tantive IV, when she feels a crippling sensation, pushing her to her knees. Leia grows concerned, asking her what’s wrong. Then we see it. The looming shadow of Kylo Ren’s ship hovers above the ground, and the ramp opens. Standing there is Ren, with the newly reforged helmet, his lightsaber already ignited. He jumps from the platform, landing with incredible force. Leia, terrified, says “Ben”. Rey starts to pick up her pace as she walks toward him, breaking into an all out sprint. She ignites her lightsaber at the last second and flips over Kylo Ren, and they engage each other. We can see that Rey is holding her own, as the pace picks up. 

I know that the lightsaber fights in the sequel trilogy have gotten some flack, mostly for the lack of proper form and style. Personally, I really enjoyed the more sloppy and volatile feel that the duels have had, but I understand the other point of view. Even though Kylo Ren’s fighting style is still going to be defined by large, angry strikes that have very little grace to them, I wanted Rey’s style to have evolved. She’s been training for two years, and while she hasn’t been a lightsaber duel it would make sense for her to get a little more competent with wielding the weapon of a Jedi. So just try to picture her fighting style along the lines of Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon: defensive and methodical, but with a lot of speed and finesse  
We see Poe firing on TIE fighters, but knows that he’s just stalling to get the Resistance evacuated. He asks, frightened, where they should go once they flee. No one answers until Rose suggests they get into dead space. Empty space between the Outer Rim and the unknown regions. She whips up coordinates from her setup as the Resistance packs up and leaves in a hurry, sending them to the channel. Poe tells everyone to get there on their own, that the fleet will rendezvous there as soon as possible. We see some of the shuttles take off and jump to lightspeed immediately, with some being damaged or even shot down in the process. We see stormtroopers begin to land, firing on the fleeing Resistance fighters. Finn and Onyx Company get to cover, firing back. Finn, Chewie, and Jannah run to the Falcon, using it as a way to cover the unarmed ships as they escape. We get some dogfighting action with them and the X-Wing pilots, as they help to facilitate an evacuation by taking out TIE fighters.  
A huge gunfight takes place. Rose, rushing to get the equipment on to the ship, sees stormtroopers running her way and opening fire. She whips out her blaster pistols (akimbo style) and fires back, taking one or two out. However, she is shot twice in the chest, non-fatally but bleeding badly and very hurt. Ares runs to her side, firing on the stormtroopers. One of them calls him a traitor and rushes toward him, tackling him. Ares quickly gains the upper hand, grabbing the trooper’s rifle and hitting him across the face with it, knocking him unconscious. He runs back over to Rose, while pulling her behind cover. He quickly gets her to the Tantive IV, one of the last large-personnel ships still on the ground, since Leia is watching horrified at the lightsaber fight and orders troops on the ship to fire at Kylo Ren to distract him and prevent him from hurting Rey. He simply stops the blaster bolts and sends them back in the ship’s direction without any struggle or hesitation, hitting a few soldiers and making the boarding crew panic and dodge the blaster bolts.  
Rey and Kylo Ren are furiously dueling. Rey pushes him away with the Force, and we hear his voice for the first time. It’s deeper, more aggressive. Then Rey gets the same headache, ringing in her ears. And soon enough, she hears his voice: Palpatine’s voice. He tells her there is no use in resisting, that she can’t possibly defeat the mighty Kylo Ren. She is horrified, taken aback, and that’s when he charges her. The voices pile up in her head, as well as Kylo Ren taunting her, calling her a failure, that she’ll never be a Jedi. He picks her up with the Force, and begins to close his fist, choking her. She struggles, dropping her lightsaber and gasping for air, pulling at her neck. We cut to a close up of his mask: “I will burn the galaxy to its before I let you slip away again”  
Suddenly, we see Kylo Ren strain, freezing violently and dropping Rey to the ground. He struggles to gain movement again, and we can hear him grunting as he tries to break free. We cut to Leia, reaching out with the Force, hurting from the sheer magnitude of energy and strain it takes to hold back Kylo Ren. Leia hears in her head the voice of Palpatine, he boasts about taking her son away. Rey grabs her lightsaber and sprints toward Leia, knowing the battle is lost and that she can’t stay to fight him without risking everyone aboard the Tantive IV’s life. The voice of Darth Sidious rings from his mask as Kylo Ren is struggling to break free of Leia’s Force grip, horrifying everyone who is boarding the ship and stopping them in their tracks. The struggle is too much, and Leia falls to her knees, releasing Kylo Ren. The ship begins to take off, and Rey runs and jumps into the door as the ramp closes. The ship takes off quickly and jumps to lightspeed.  
The remains of the base burn, as Kylo Ren gets back up. Palpatine tells Kylo Ren that he failed, but that there is another way to find her, to lure her out and destroy her. It will not only put an end to the Jedi, but allow Darth Sidious to finally merge with Ben’s essence. He needs to kill Rey before the First Order can be safe, and Palpatine can fully possess Kylo Ren.. Ben resists, asking him “It’s my head, it’s not yours to possess...” Kylo Ren is seized into the air and slammed into the dirt, creating a small crater with the sheer force of the impact. Palpatine simply explains “Your soul…. Belongs to me…”  
Aboard the Tantive IV, medics are frantically rushing to tend to the wounded. Rey is frozen in shock, what just happened? Why did she hear that voice? How powerful has Ben become that stopping him nearly killed his mother?   
Speaking of Leia, Rey turns to where she was being tended to, only to see her being carried by the crew into the infirmary. She hears Ares calling for help, but all of the medics are occupied. Rey rushes over to see what is happening, only to see Rose fading from her wounds. She gets down on her knees, asking Ares to hold her head up. Rose looks at Rey, shaking and in a daze. Rey grabs her hand tightly, and with the other hand places it on her belly. She closes her eyes, and the sound cuts out of the room, all we can hear is Rey’s breath and the Force theme. We cut to Rose’s wounds which are mysteriously healing in real time. Life floods back into her eyes, as Rose gasps for air. Ares is amazed, asking how Rey did that. She explains that she learned how to do it from the ancient texts of the Jedi, that’s how she was able to mend the Kyber crystal and make a new lightsaber from the pieces of her old one. Ares is amazed, helping Rose to her feet. They find a place to sit so Rose can rest. Rey goes around to check on other people, while Rose and Ares talk about what they’re going to do next, particularly what the engineers can do to help.  
They’re not able to rest long however, as they jump out of hyperspace and into the vast blackness, with only the other Resistance ships surrounding them. They are in dead space, the nothingness of the expanse. Soon enough all of the ships arrive, and we get a good look at the size of the fleet. It’s large, though not enough to stand up to the entire First Order on its own. We see the Millennium Falcon arrive and attach itself to the Tantive IV. Finn, Jannah, Chewie, and the rest of the main characters rush into the infirmary after hearing that Leia is conscious.  
Poe, Chewy, and Rey all have final words with her. Poe tells her he’s not ready to lead by himself, to which Leia responds, “Then don’t.” Chewie grabs her hands and softly wails, crying. Rey comes to her bedside, distraught, asking how Ben could do something so terrible. Leia tells Rey that she could still feel Ben, fighting in there. The person who attacked her wasn’t her son. Rey says to Leia that she can try to heal her, but Leia refuses. She tells Rey that it’s her time, she’s ready. In time, Rey will understand why she did what she did. Leia tells her that she’s reaching the final steps of her training, she only has one obstacle left to face. She tells Rey not to be afraid, that all is as the Force wills it to be. Rey embraces her in a hug, but when she looks down, she is holding nothing but Leia’s empty clothes. She has become one with the Force.   
We see anger spread across Rey’s face as she lays the clothes down and storms out of the room. Poe follows her, asking her to wait for him and calm down. She turns around, yelling at Poe. “She was my only link to the Force, the only person left who could’ve helped me finish training, and now she’s gone. That monster killed his own mother just to get to me. I have nothing now! I can’t face Ren on my own, not without her.” Poe responds “We have an obligation to stay strong, to keep our heads up and keep fighting… for her. She wouldn’t want this, to see us despair. Remember what she said? ‘Hope is like the sun. If you only believe it when you see it you'll never make it through the night.’ Listen, I’m terrified. I don’t think I can do this by myself either. But did you hear what she said to me? Don’t. We need each other. Leia is irreplaceable, but we have each other, and she always said that’s all we’d ever need.” Rey gives him a hug, and they cry together, mourning the loss of their mother-figure.   
We cut to a somber scene, Leia’s funeral. A cremation table is laid out as the Resistance lays personal items; jewelry, medals, clothing, etc. onto the altar for Leia. Poe gives a eulogy, sweet and short. Everyone is in mourning. They set the cremation table into the escape pod and launch it into space as Leia’s theme swells.

For Leia’s funeral, think of something between Yondu’s ceremony from Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2 and the one for Spock in The Wrath of Khan. If the other two massive science fiction franchises have done pseudo-burials at sea/Viking funerals, it’s about goddamned time that Star Wars gets one too.

Some time later we catch up with Rose, as she’s tinkering with something in a makeshift bedroom with other soldiers, Jannah comes by to talk with her. They talk about the state of things, if they think they’ll be able to find a new base, and how the council is going to agree. They say that ever since Poe started taking more responsibility and that he’s now acting General of the Resistance, the rest of the council has become a little divided. Some people, particularly the younger members are all onboard with his leadership, but many of the older leaders are more skeptical of his style. Jannah gets a communique from Rey that he and Rose are needed on the bridge. Rose tries to get out of it, but Finn insists, saying he’ll be there and there’s no need to be intimidated. She’s the head of the entire engineering corp, she has nothing to be scared of.   
Poe calls a meeting to help find a new base of operations on a planet that has both strategic advantages and is also protected from the First Order. Rose suggests a planet that may be exactly what they’re looking for, but admits it sounds crazy and may be a huge risk. The various Resistance leaders turn to her as she suggests the unthinkable: Coruscant. They all dismiss her as insane, and maybe she should stick to her post as the head of engineering, but Poe is interested, asking how and why the hell that would work. Rose’s answer comes in the form of a question: “Where do you hide a tree?” Finn responds, “In a forest”.  
Coruscant’s population is over 1 trillion and the planet has multiple layers that would be perfect for hiding entire fleets of various “unsavory” types of characters. The First Order wouldn’t suspect that the Resistance could be so stupid as to hide out on the capital planet. The constant communications going in and out of the planet would help to mask their communications with Resistance factions across the galaxy. And with the First Order’s guard down on their home world and with Rose’s improved cloaking tech, the Resistance could slip in and remain in the planet’s lower levels unnoticed. Rose believes that if they can hide on Coruscant for long enough, they might be able to devise a plan to attack the main Super Star Destroyer, The Persecutor. It houses many of the First Order’s lead generals, so taking them out or capturing them could be hugely advantageous. Poe likes the sound of the idea more and more. It’s risky, but he likes it.  
Poe pulls Rose aside and asks her to lead with him, as she has the respect of the entire engineering corp and most of the soldiers. She can clearly strategize and is dedicated to the Resistance. When he says it like that, she seems like the only candidate qualified, but Rose herself isn’t sure that she’s ready for the task. She makes a self-deprecated remark about how she’s just an engineer and isn’t fit to be a general. But Poe knows better. She’s quickly gaining the support and affection of her fellow engineers as well as the soldiers on the ground. All around, she’s well respected, but mostly stays within her field, interacting solely with the troops & engineers and not with high command (excluding Poe) unless she has something important to report. He asks her why that is, and she tells him it's because she feels like she doesn’t belong. Being a leader was Paige’s thing, and Rose just isn’t up to the task.   
Poe tells the rest of the fleet to set course for Coruscant, and to use the new cloaking tech that the Engineer Corps installed. He turns to Rose, now standing uncomfortably on the bridge of the ship, and asks her how sure she is about the cloaking tech. She says she’s pretty sure it’s gonna work, and he retorts that “pretty sure” is the best shot they have right now. They make a jump to lightspeed, and the fleet embarks for Coruscant.

So that’s Act 1!!! Now we’ve got the story in place, the characters set up, and the inciting incident that gets the plot rolling. I’m going to split this story into 4 parts, since Act 2 is traditionally the longest and it’s better for me to roll this out one part at a time. Thanks for reading!


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